Most parents have no idea that buried deep in the No Child Left Behind Act is a requirement that the names and phone numbers of all High School Juniors and Seniors are sent to U.S. military recruiters. The law went into effect in 2002, but many schools only became aware of the obscure military recruiting provision in the last year. Schools risk losing all federal aid if they fail to provide military recruiters full access to their students; the aid is contingent on complying with federal law.
Interestingly, though, private high schools that “maintain a religious objection to service in the Armed Forces” are exempt from the policy, meaning children whose parents can afford a private school education – read: white, upper class – are insulated from the recruitment drive. (Public schools with boards that oppose the policy on similar grounds don’t have the same flexibility to refuse.)
This new school recruitment policy will help ensure that mostly middle and lower class kids fight this war while the sons of the privileged get a pass. Maybe the military’s new school recruitment motto should be “Leave No Child Behind – Except the Rich.”
As a parent is who is strongly anti-war, I was interested to see just what a parent needs to do to keep their child’s name from being sent, and I could find almost no information. I cannot even tell if there is an specific procedure that needs to be followed. If you live in Ann Arbor, and have teenaged kids, the following from the Ann Arbor Committe for Peace will prove helpful:
The Washtenaw County Chapter of Veterans For Peace has an opt-out form on it’s website that can be downloaded, printed, and mailed to local school boards. Click here to access the form. Those living in the Ann Arbor School District should note that forms, according to the District administration, need to be submitted every year by September 30th, a point being investigated by Veterans For Peace with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Association. For more information about the opt-out requirements, and the No Child Left Behind Act, visit www.vfpwc.org/Schools.